Greater Manchester BME

MRSN (Manchester Refugee Support Network) is working to diversify its income streams in order to sustain its Advice service and Forum activities beyond March 2012. MRSN have set up a fund-raising group including staff, trustees and volunteers and developed their strategy and action plan. They have sufficient in-house expertise to develop and write funding bids but they need someone to help them plan and coordinate a series of one-off fund-raising events and activities.

They are looking for someone who has:

• Creativity, enthusiasm and a sense of fun
• Good planning and organisational skills
• Experience of events planning and/or management
• Ability to lead, motivate and inspire people

Hours are flexible and MRSN can reimburse travel expenses.

You can download the Volunteer application form from the MRSN website at www.mrsn.org.uk or you can contact the office for a hard copy of the form on 0161 202 8910 or request a copy by email:siamak@mrsn.org.uk.

For more details about the role please contact Barbara on 0161 202 8910 or by email at: barbara@mrsn.org.uk.

Credit unions now open to wider membership including community groups, charities and social enterprises. The Credit Unions Act has changed to allow credit unions to provide services to new groups and to develop new services and partnerships.

Previously everyone eligible to join a credit union had to have something in common but this requirement has now been removed, leaving credit unions free to extend their operations by offering financial services to organisations such as housing providers, social enterprises and businesses, community groups and charities.

For more information see the Association of British Credit Unions Limited’s website: www.abcul.coop/media-and-research/news/view/208

This project used community researchers to interview twenty women who had received leave to remain under the ‘legacy’ casework scheme, about their experiences accessing the labour market and relevant public services. The aim of the project was to gather evidence of the particular challenges faced by the women, reflecting their gender and ethnicity, that
could then be used to hold public service providers to account under the
Equality Act.

The project was based within Rainbow Haven, a local community project which provides advice and support to asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers in Manchester and Salford. The project was funded by Oxfam GB, as part of its Law into Practice project, funded by the European Union.

Click here to access the full report.